Waiting
by and Teng
Summary: High school AU. Kakuzu is forced to work with a strange, quirky individual and gets mixed feelings about the forced interaction. But Hidan only plans to linger. read warnings inside, KakuHida, typical Akatsuki pairings
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: Cursing**, and I'm gonna be a lot less gentle. That means this warning covers EVERY word, so if I decide to toss out the N-word cuz' Hidan's all about colloquial, nobody better bitch. **Suicidal!Hidan, cutting **(more blood letting, but still a possible trigger), possible character death. **High school AU**, KakuHida, typical Akatsuki parings. No beta (but if anyone wants to, be my guest)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything other than the WORDS I BLEED FROM MY SOUL.

* * *

**Waiting**

**Chapter 1**

"This is the fourth time we've caught you doing this, Kakuzu." She maintained eye contact when she addressed him but when she didn't, she stared out of the frosty window. She didn't want to be here today, and neither did Kakuzu. "You're a smart kid, you have to be to have this-this web, I guess. You know, instead of using your connections to sell essays or answer keys or whatever cheating ring you're involved with, you could tutor kids or whatever."

"It isn't as lucrative." he muttered blandly. Kids with too much money would rather pay for an A instead of God-honest knowledge. But Kakuzu didn't care; he sold whatever was in-demand. "And this is the first time you've caught me."

"I know you must think we're all stupid here. And maybe that's my fault, I shouldn't have called you in those previous times without a sufficient amount of evidence. Instead, you've gotten three of your friends into some pretty serious trouble." Her eyes glanced back toward the window and she sighed. Kakuzu also occasionally stared out of the window, sometimes wondering what was keeping her attention. They were on the first floor of the school and the only thing outside of her window was a tree. "Aren't you even the least bit ashamed?"

Kakuzu shook his head, "I never did anything wrong. They copied and sold answers I wrote down. They paid me to answer questions but I did not give them consent to distribute them." His answer was less-than-satisfactory. He knew that at this point, that answer just wouldn't cut it. The first time he was brought in, he played stupid. Then he played the victim. Then he played innocent.

"I could have you expelled, and I'm sure you realize this." the principal paused and waited for him to nod, "But I've a better idea. All you have to do is tutor several kids for the rest of the year and you're golden."

He raised an eyebrow, "What if I just got those kids into this ring? Wouldn't all of this be counterproductive?"

She shrugged, "You could, definitely. But I'm giving you a good group of kids who honestly can't afford it or their schedules just aren't working for them. If any of them even hint that you're pawning your little cheat-sheets to them, then you will be expelled. No more exceptions, Kakuzu. You are on the very tips of the edge and I nearly murdered to get this done."

"Sounds... a little too good…"

"Like I said, they're one of the few decent kids I can find in this place. They need some help and you're definitely one of the smartest kids here. It's a win-win situation." Except he would be losing time, losing money, and he wasn't so sure of his web anymore. His classmates were also being interrogated, one at a time. Trying to white out his business, the smaller branches would either die from fear or inability to cheat properly.

"Fine," Kakuzu couldn't afford to be expelled and all of his teachers were now watching. Watching and waiting for a new string of idiots to pass a test with matching answers (word by word, written exams).

"You're first tutoring session will be this Thursday, right after school in the media center." The principal watched him as he gathered his things but before he left the room, she called out, "Don't forget! Tips of the edge!"

* * *

"So, what're ya' gonna do now?" Kisame asked. He chewed on some kind of minty gum that made the air around him smell like the ocean. He sat on the edge of the fountain in the outdoor mall beside Kakuzu. Two others stood beside them.

Kakuzu sighed, disappointed in himself, "Tutor a bunch of brats."

"Your business was bound to fail." Pein informed him unhelpfully. He was wearing a new set of jewelry today. It must be the nineteenth of the month, and every nineteenth day he swapped out his studs for a new matching pair. It was a supposed rebirth every month after and before September, Pein's _actual_ birthday. What a rich bastard.

"Odd you would say that, considering you were the first to propose the idea five years ago." Last month was silver hoops with black stripes. Now he wore some purple studs, maybe amethyst. It would have looked ridiculously gay on anyone else, but Pein pulled it off with deadly sexuality. The lithe, paper white girl leaning on his arm seemed to add onto his sex appeal. She was folding tiny triangles and placing them into her small black shoulder bag but she folded them with such indifference and refinement, it seemed cultured.

The red-head scoffed, "Of course, it was a magnificent idea. You must have earned at least enough to pay for a car." He didn't pause for Kakuzu's response, because they both knew he did, "But everything falls at some point, even if it never hit a true high point. Nothing lasts forever."

The stitched teenager growled, annoyed at the suggestion that he was doomed to fail and his "business" was anything less than accomplished. "What about you, Pein? Does a _god_ ever fall?"

He didn't even blink, just continued to play with the ends of Konan's midnight blue locks, "Yes, yes they do. But for me, I still have mountains to move before I meet my end."

Pause. "Intense." Kisame breathed before rolling his eyes, "Now that that's done, when's Itachi coming?"

Konan paused in her folding to roll her eyes, "Do you ever listen?"

"Wait, did he tell me already?" Kisame chewed on his lip, confused as if he typically remembered bits of information normally.

"Yes, he told us yesterday that he wouldn't be able to meet up with us today. He has to pick up his brother from some marching band thing." she informed him, a little on the snarky side.

"Oh yeah…" Kisame murmured before standing up and stretching, "Lame. I don't know about you guys but without Itachi, Tobi, and Deidara here, this group isn't much of a party." It was true, everyone in their little group was a bitch but it was less noticeable when someone added humor. Except Itachi wasn't funny, just not bitchy, which made him pretty chill to hang out with.

It was Konan's turn to roll her eyes, "That's too sweet of you." The two other teenagers were still too busy glaring at each other. But at least Kakuzu waved without looking as the pale-blue swimmer walked away.

"See you guys tomorrow. Don't get arrested without me!"

"We should at least grab a pretzel before doing anything too _exciting._" Konan moved away from Pein and he finally broke eye contact to follow her. He stalked behind her like a shadow while she headed to the stand as if no one was with her.

Kakuzu sighed and decided he didn't feel like being here today either. Why did he hang out with these people?

* * *

The "good group of kids" was… lackluster, to say the least. No one stood out to Kakuzu, he wasn't even sure if these other seniors were even real. They seemed to be those disposable characters on television shows that fade away after the real star walked into the room, whose arms occasionally came into the shot and voices sounding as a quiet, busy buzz.

Some made eye contact, some didn't. Of the six people in his group, only four arrived.

After the first five minutes of awkwardly asking what everyone needed assistance on and receiving literally no reply, he asked, "What is wrong with all of you?"

Still no response, not that he expected any. Kakuzu continued mockingly, "Not enough self-esteem, or are all of you just mute? Mute and stupid?"

The response was passive with small bows of heads and frowns. One girl opened her mouth as if to say something but as soon as he completely turned his head towards her, she shut her brace-fenced teeth.

"We are studying History and I'm not willing to teach any of you morons-" a door slammed open, "…English."

"Woah, what the fuck? I thought Euro was meeting up here?" Silver hair and purple eyes, as strange as anyone Kakuzu normally talked to. His white shirt was half unbuttoned, showing off his lean muscles that poured into hidden abs. Kakuzu kept his eyes above sea level but the teen's face was just as appetizing.

Someone interesting had just arrived.

"You are late," he paused to look down at his list. This was either Kazuma or Nanae. "Kazuma, I presume?"

"Assuming makes an ass of you. My name's Hidan, you dick-weed.." he replied haughtily, "Seriously, you've gotta be like to the most five years older than us. And stop looking like I fucked around with your mom."

The kid had a death wish. Kakuzu glared at him, frowning and menacingly snarled, "Watch yourself, I'm not an enemy you want." Instead of the reaction he hoped for, but he at least wasn't expecting since the kid was pretty gutsy, Hidan scoffed.

"I could say the same fucking thing to you, but I wouldn't want you breaking any mirrors. Dick."

Kakuzu didn't know if Hidan would make this tutoring punishment more or less bearable.

"Why are you here?"

"To suck cock—what the fuck do you think?"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes, "The principal informed me I would be tutoring students willing to learn, so again, why are you here?"

"Seriously? She said if I went to this piece-a-shit-waisting-time and helped tutor dumbasses, I wouldn't get expelled." Someone sitting down coughed, insulted but remained silent. Honestly, weren't stupid kids supposed to at least have a personality to fall back on?

"I highly doubt you know anything about European history."

"The fuck? You can't just guess that!" Hidan snapped, "I know every goddamn religious happening in that forsaken continent!"

"I highly doubt that." he paused, "but then again, religion is for the stupid." Their little group of nerds glanced around nervously at one another.

Hidan clenched his fists and pointed one towards the asshole. "Say that one more time, motherfucker." The silver pendant proudly hung over his chest, suspended on a black chord. It was of a religion Kakuzu did not recognize, but then again, he could only identify four, tops.

He sneered. "Did I hit a sore spot? I see you can't handle the truth about your own disillusion."

Hidan tried to spring over the table but surprisingly, one of the kids grabbed the back of his shirt.

"What the fuck!" he choked when he was yanked off the table's edge.

"I have wasted a whole fifteen minutes here and have learned absolutely nothing." he—Kakuzu couldn't remember his name—raged, "I have a test tomorrow! So STOP IT!" Everyone blinked. The boy who had yanked Hidan back blushed and sat down. "Sorry," he whispered, flustered.

Kakuzu cleared his throat and decided to actually start the tutoring session.

"And then the Spanish proceeded to-" Hidan paused, "Cool, it's 3:30."

"Wait, what did they do?"

"Try reading a damn book, 'cause I'm out." Hidan whistled. He hastily packed up all his things—which was really like three things—and literally pushed his chair over. "It's fucking raining like the sky's having its period." With one hand he quickly picked the chair back up and paused. He pursed his lips as if conflicted, "Alright, heathens, don't make me regret this. Anyone need a ride home?"

The group shook their head and politely thanked him, most of them pulled out their phones to call their parents. Kakuzu remained silent and quietly left. He cursed to himself because he usually walked home.

Just as Hidan said, rain was pelting the ground with a vengeance. The walk was about twenty minutes from the school. It didn't look like it was going to clear up soon. He pulled out his phone and tried calling Zetsu. Usually Pain would help him but after the little spat (which was proportional to the Cold War), they were playing a mix of a dominance and waiting game.

Kakuzu sighed and sat down against the wall. Zetsu hadn't picked up. Thankfully there was an awning over the cement bordering the media center. Little waterfalls poured from crevices and he watched lights flickering in layers of gray clouds.

The world seemed angry, as irrational as it sounded. It threw cold winds and rain and bolts of lightning around Amegakure. It was storming, as usual, and Kakuzu didn't know if he'd prefer snow. He's never seen inches of snow before (only sleet) but he'd imagine it to be expensive.

"Hey! Fuckface!"

Kakuzu looked to his left and saw the offending voice. The other teen carried four books Kakuzu did not remember seeing him with before. But then again, Hidan was undeniably well-read in the field of theology and history. During their time together, he realized one of the book Hidan would refer to occasionally was worn with marked tabs. He would flip through it like an expert, barely glancing down as he pointed sections out to the freshmen. Enthusiastically pointing out sentences and expanding on them, showing the true depth of his knowledge.

Kakuzu hated it. He may be able to easily get a 2400 on an SAT but Hidan could write an encyclopedia on history.

"Yo, you listening?" Hidan walked towards him casually and stood by his massive feet.

"What do you want?"

"Hey man, I know you wanna—I don't know— eat my fucking guts or something, but you need a ride?"

"If you know I hate you, why are you even asking?"

"Dude, seriously? They're fucking called manners." Hidan snapped as he pulled a small, red umbrella from his bag.

"I need a ride."

"…" the other's purple eye twitched. His mouth was set in a firm line. Instead of replying, Hidan angrily stomped away through the rain. Kakuzu sighed and leaned his head against the wall. Like Pein, he wasn't planning to swallow his pride and run after Hidan. His green eyes closed, his ears quickly focused on the thunder. It was getting closer.

Boom. Boom.

BEEP.

Kakuzu's eyes snapped open. To his utter surprise, Hidan's face was glaring at him through a closed window. He stood uncertainly—if this was a stupid prank, he'd _murder_ Hidan. But as he approached the car (some generic, scratched-up five-seater) he trusted the silver-haired teen not to make a fool of him.

He got into the backseat, trying to hurry without looking hurried. The interior was neat and clean. His softly worn sneakers squeaked as they slid against the protective plastic mat on the floor.

"Alright, you ass-hat, don't fuck up anything in this car!" Hidan hissed before adding, "Cleanliness is godliness."

The stitch teen decided to keep his mouth shut until he remembered Hidan didn't know where he lived. So far, they've been heading in the general direction so he had forgotten. "I live in Jubilee Apartments. Turn left onto Rupert Av-"

"Woah, you serious? I live there too!" Hidan grinned at him and made brief eye contact through the rear view mirror, "I'm on the second floor!"

Kakuzu's eyebrows both raised, "I have never seen you around."

Hidan waved him off after he turned into the parking lot of the quaint, egg-shell apartment complex. It was rectangular with small balconies jutting out between every three windows. "Where you wanna get dropped off?"

"I'm towards the back."

"Jashin, how have we never seen each other?" he whistled as he parked his car. The rain hadn't calmed since they left the library, so Hidan instructed Kakuzu to reach behind his seat and he found a black, larger umbrella. Family sized.

Kakuzu shrugged, finding it a tad odd himself. "I have a free period first, so I leave a later. But that wouldn't explain why I've _never _seen you around before." He opened the door and quickly opened the door before any water could get into the spotless car. Together, they walked into the building, only pausing to unlock the door into the hallway.

"I moved in a few weeks ago." Hidan explained, "And before you ask, I moved here for reasons."

He raised a dark eyebrow, "I wasn't planning to, and that answer makes me wish you didn't guess stupid things." They moved up the stair and Kakuzu decided it was too late to be surprised anymore.

Hidan spluttered and said sarcastically, "Well, sorry! Most people fucking ask! I woulda asked."

"Don't compare me to idiots."

It took a moment before Hidan realized the jab, "What the fuck! I consider mys—Oh! This is me." Kakuzu didn't know whether to keep walking or wait for Hidan to dismiss him. He usually straight up ignored people who he wasn't on completely good terms with.

When the moron finally pulled out his keys (two key chains: unsurprisingly, his cult symbol and a plastic picture frame) he turned to Kakuzu, "See you later, dickhead."

He grunted, "Same to you."

* * *

**A/N:** Soo, a lot different from what I typically write, whenever I try to write even semi-seriously, I feel like I over do it. I plan on this being like five chapters, so let's hope for the best! Please review or PM me if you got something to say-anything to say- and I'll reply with some kind of urgency. And I've also wanted to bend Hidan's religion to fit in today's world without being illegal. There might be some hunts of "A Walk to Remember" but considering I've never watched that movie, only heard some quotes, it prolly won't be noticeable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings and ****Disclaimer:** _Please regard the previous chapter for either._

**Ages and Grades of the Akatsuki** (I do explain all of this in the chapter but if you're like me and skim through details, it'll be helpful):

Kakuzu, Pein, Konan, Zetsu, and Tobi are seniors, ages 17-18(if it matters in the future, I'll differentiate).

Itachi is a senior, 16, skipped a grade.

Kisame is a junior, 18, failed a grade.

Sasori is 15, junior, skipped a grade. (I only made him young because of his appearance)

Hidan and Deidara are juniors, age 16.

* * *

**Waiting**

**Chapter 2**

Some people believe Kakuzu must have had quite the life. His body is swaddled in ribbons and his past outbursts nearly ended in murder. But if you asked him, he would tell you that only a brief period of his life was terrible, but other than that, he's lived pretty decently.

He comes from a cute, little family. His mother was Filipino to the core and the same could be said about his father except Indian. Both migrated to the United States of America at different times with nothing on them but a suitcase and their ethnicity. There's a town in Washington made up of a jumble of eastern cultures and they were one of the many Asians attracted to its familiar culture.

They met at a hospital where his mother worked as a nurse. During his father's night shift at a motel as the desk keeper (it helped pay for his engineering course), some dick with a chick tried to skip out on paying. In the end, Kakuzu's father got his ass handed to him.

And after a few months of courting, the two were happily married at a small Catholic church. Then another lot of months passed, and Kakuzu was birthed into a pair who embodied their stereotypes. But in a good way.

And they settled. But unlike them, Kakuzu didn't want to settle. He knew the world ran on money, and he planned on taking it over.

* * *

His parents were at work when he arrived home. Kakuzu threw his soggy bag against the breakfast table's leg and looked through his fridge for leftovers from Tuesday's dinner. He pulled out the remains of a rotisserie chicken and rice to microwave before turning on the television set.

On was a recording of one of his mother's eccentric dramas. He changed the channel to a random, glorified doctor's show, before turning down the volume. The noise accompanied him as he took his hot dinner out and set it on the table. The lone boy removed his mask and placed it to the side.

Kakuzu finished his atrociously simple homework quickly and took out a notepad. In it were scribbles and outlines and layers of math. But altogether, they were schemes to make money. The less plausible ones were crossed out.

Lately, the paper had been used for planning on retrieving answers for different tests and keeping track of his customers.

That was now over.

He could actually tutor kids for a price. A risk-free opportunity he had also considered prior to his now crumbling "business." But tutoring took time and required planning as well as patience.

Today's tutoring session managed to be decent. It had started out terribly but somehow turned around.

The next morning, he rose at the appropriate time and left at an appropriate time. On his walk to school, the teenager paused to stare at the door of a very quizzical boy.

Hidan was… different. Definitely different. He was a junior, similar to Deidara, Kisame, and Sasori(though Kisame failed a grade while Sasori skipped one). Their school was small, around three hundred students, one story, and surrounded by swamps. What reason could anyone have to move out here?

Kakuzu shook his head, dispelling the thoughts from his mind. It was odd for him to be so fixated on something that didn't involve money. Maybe his mind was trying to subconsciously hint at something, something that would lead to a _greener_ field. Hidan was, after all, not _completely_ useless.

The storm from the day had only abated into a light sprinkle. This time, Kakuzu had an umbrella on hand. He hurried to Akatsuki High.

Upon arriving at school, he headed straight for his locker. He had ten minutes to kill before the second bell rung. The contents of Kakuzu's locker were haphazardly put together. Papers stuck out of textbooks and binders were falling apart.

In all actuality, everything but the textbooks was at least three years old. Even the pencils were on its very last strokes—not that Kakuzu was worried; wasteful classmates always left pencils and pens lying around.

After switching a few of his books, he decided to just wander the halls. Scavenge for a fallen quarter or two.

He rounded a corner but paused at a new sight. The hall had rows of lockers on each side, two stacked on to each other. But the dulling blue lockers weren't the oddities he was staring at, rather the clear vandalism on someone's locker.

In all of his four years in Akatsuki High, nothing so mischievous had ever occurred. People would occasionally carve desks or write with sharpies on school property but no one had ever been bold enough to use spray paint. The bottom locker had a pentagram painted on it, and Kakuzu pondered on whether this had been an act of bullying or some punk's rebellious attempt.

The longer he absorbed the sloppy job, the more uncomfortable he felt. It became clearer that this was harassment. In red sharpie, someone drew a stick figure devil with a pronounced penis. But that wasn't why he was queasy; it was the name being tossed around in his head. He would actually bet _money_ that he knew who owned the locker.

Words in more sharpie: "JASONS LIL BITCH"

Kakuzu may be verbally and occasionally physically harsh, but never enough to damage someone's property—

_unlike the bastards that left him bleeding with strips of skin peeled off like God carved new crevices for rivers_

—unless they deserved it. Religion didn't fall under the list. Money, the new essence of life, would have to be used to fix that. The disgraced locker reminded him of before he grew some guts and nearly killed a kid who tried to steal his mask. But at least he didn't leave any scars other than a disfigured nose.

The bell finally rung and he quickly left the hall. Kakuzu didn't want to run into Hidan and explain why he was staring at the teen's locker. However, on the way he spotted a head of silver.

He planned to ignore Hidan but when the younger teen only glanced at him, Kakuzu, bewildered, slowly raised a hand up in a half-wave. Hidan didn't even pause to acknowledge the gesture. Kakuzu had expected at least a "hello" from him; instead he was coldly brushed off. Kakuzu tried to ignore the unfamiliar ache. It shouldn't have mattered anyway.

As soon as they passed each other, two nuisances attached themselves to his side.

"Trying to make new friends, yeah?" the blond teased. Despite his normal appearance, Deidara was an oddball, transferring in a year ago after nearly killing a teacher in a dangerous, explosive prank. Within a week, Sasori and he hit it off, becoming best friends through their art class. And since Sasori and Kakuzu were decent friends, Deidara considered Kakuzu a friend. Kakuzu saw him as tolerable, at best.

"He's an acquaintance from my tutoring group."

"You guys are talking about Hidan, right?" Kisame asked from his left. After they both nodded, he whistled, "I swear you go for the weirdest people." And he was referring to his scaly self as well.

"That kids a riot, yeah! Last week in Bio, we were dissecting piggies and he cuts out the heart, and draws some weird Satanist symbol with the blood, yeah. When the teach told him to stop, he called her a "damned cockslut, unworthy of beholding His sacrificial ceremony." And then he gutted his pig and through some intestines at this one bitch who keeps nagging on my art." They headed towards Kakuzu's class which was conveniently in the same hall as the juniors' shared classroom.

"Are you two friends?"

Deidara shrugged, "Something like that, yeah. At least in Biology, we are."

Kisame nodded in understanding, "Hidan's in my English class and we've paired up for a few projects. He's fucking hilarious but when we're not working together, he doesn't even pretend to like me."

Kakuzu took all the information in. Why was Hidan pushing people away? Was it part of his religion?

"Does he talk to anyone outside of class?"

He regretted asking immediately after the words escaped his mouth. Both of them raised their eyebrows.

"Yo, I know Hidan's pretty fine but he's trouble."

"Are you serious? Shut up, Kisame, yeah. We're all "trouble" and if Kakuzu finally wants to hook up with someone-"

"No." he growled dangerously, "That's not why I'm asking."

"Hidan's not our type of "trouble."" Kisame continued, as if he hadn't heard Kakuzu, "He's like… "serial killer/cannibal/cult leader/blood bather trouble.""

"I thought you said he was pretty cool, yeah!"

He shook his blue head, "I never said that! I said he was funny but outside of class, I think he's planning genocide."

"Be quiet, you two. I'm not planning on…" Kakuzu paused before awkwardly repeating, ""hooking up" with him. And our group is a fucked up mix, so Hidan would fit in without a hitch. I wouldn't be surprised if any of you confessed to murdering someone. Zetsu eats everything including humans if that story of his visit to one of the Pacific islands is true, Pein and Konan actually believe Pein's a god, Sasori's dolls may as well be real, Itachi always seems to be plotting murder, Tobi's _Tobi_, you're practically a shark, and Deidara, you play with explosives. And Hidan would get along fine with your sick senses of humor.

"As stupid and ridiculous as he is, he is admittedly astute in terms of history. He also has a small range of manners. And from what you two told me, he's not a squeamish coward, so Zetsu and he would get along fine through blood. Hidan's as religious as they come, so he'd be a stubborn jackass with Pein. Ugh, _anyone_ who'd clash with that spoiled brat. He'd do just fine in our group."

The two juniors blinked and Deidara said in awe, "That's the most I've ever heard you speak without mentioning money, yeah.

"Man, there's no way you don't like him." Kisame nudged him softly, almost apologetically, "If you wanna go for Hidan, it's cool. Is that your type? Insane but sexy?"

He answered louder than necessary, "I'm not interested in him. Grow up, Kisame." _Why did he talk to these people?_

"You two would be cute together, yeah." Deidara continued, grinning and waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm going to kill both of you." he threatened quieter but it held much more seriousness. It was darker and menacing, he even got a good amount of rasp under his words. To anyone else, it promised pain and destruction. But Deidara didn't catch the message.

"And then he'd sacrifice our bodies to Satan, yeah! You two would totally work."

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and the scowl could be felt despite the cloth hiding it. Kisame interjected, possibly saving Deidara's life.

"Whelp, time to go, wouldn't want to be late, let's go, Deidara!" Kisame yelled quickly, he grabbed Deidara's sleeve and pulled him away.

* * *

The Hidan riddle continued to bug him throughout the day. Kakuzu didn't know whether or not he wanted to befriend the zealot, but he refused to consider him as a possible romantic partner.

His first class was AP European History. After witnessing a true History ace teach, Kakuzu wasn't even inspired to open his backpack. His teacher paused midway through his rant about inflation to stare at Kakuzu, but the boy held the eye contact defiantly. Mr. Salinga broke and continued nervously.

Back to his thoughts.

Hidan cursed out teachers and peers but had the decency to offer everyone a ride home. He moved into the apartment complex months ago for apparently strange reasons. If he had to associate with someone that didn't provoke him, he was enjoyable company.

Once the period ended, he swiftly walked towards his next class. He was stopped by the duo he was trying to ignore.

"Deidara texted me about your new pursuit. I must say I'm surprised, no monetary drive for once." Konan said as she and Pein blocked his path. Pein stared from behind, his eyes practically digging into Kakuzu's soul.

"I do not agree with your choice. An ignorant, religious fool? Surely you could find someone better." Pein patronized him bitterly. His blue-haired partner turned slightly to glare.

"Ignorant and religious? Hypocritical isn't a good choice, either." Kakuzu glowered. In moments like these, he thanked his intimidating height. He loomed over his _friend_ who skimmed six feet. The tanned teen stood nearly five inches taller; the only person that met his height was Kisame. "I will associate with whomever I want and if that is a problem for you, you will become a problem to me."

"Calm down, guys." Konan said nervously. She placed herself closer to the center to create a barrier.

"I am always calm. I am always ready for a fight as well. Kakuzu, everyone knows about your terrible temper. If I push the right buttons, I know exactly how you tick. With this knowledge, I can basically _control_ you-"

"Get your head out of your pompous ass! You're not a god; you're not anything but rich and spoiled!" Kakuzu snarled and a few kids stopped in their proceedings to stare. As soon as they saw who were prepping for a clash, they knew it would be interesting. The stitched giant was well known for getting mixed up with a gang a couple of years ago, and through his fallen cheating business that he had kept well under control through intimidation.

Pein was known solely for his influence throughout the school. Teachers seemed to bend over backwards for him. There was suspicion of bribery but no one would admit anything.

The two were acquainted since middle school only because they were the very few _not_ scared of the other.

"Tsk. I didn't expect you to crack so easily. I've always had trouble respecting you due to your immaturity."

"Shut the fuck up!" His hand flew forward to grab Pein's soft polo. Konan had been squeezed out from between them and the crowd stared excitedly. Camera phones blinked awake in preparation.

However, before anything extreme could occur, a staff member pushed herself through the wall of people.

"Hey! What's going on here!" she yelled. She shooed the disappointed kids and reported the situation in brief words into her walkie-talkie. "Kakuzu, Pein, to the office! Kakuzu, this is the second time this month."

Kakuzu froze, he couldn't afford an expulsion. He tersely let go of the expensive shirt and let his eyes fall to the ground. His dark green and red eyes glanced at Pein. If anyone could stop shit from falling, it was Pein.

Pein confidently looked back at him. It infuriated him but he kept a better hold of his senses (if only he had done that a minute ago). "Mrs. Luo… it's fine. Everything's fine. We were just heatedly discussing something from class." He said charmingly. His smirk looked like a smile to the teacher but Kakuzu knew better. "Isn't that right, Kakuzu?"

"Yes... I have difficulties controlling my anger sometimes." Kakuzu bit out, "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It is alright, _friend_." Pein replied condescendingly. Konan lingered at the sidelines. Pein wins again.

Mrs. Luo looked uncertain but after thinking it over and probably considering Pein's name, she nodded and left. Not without a quick, "Get to class."

* * *

During lunch, he sat on the opposite corner of the rectangular table from Pein. He was still very pissed and knew it would be safer to stay away. Each seat had a foot of elbow space so the distance was actually enough.

Tobi, with his cute-sy Teen Titans lunchbox, pranced over to sit beside him. He opened the metal container and removed a PBJ shaped as a dinosaur. "Tobi has been such a good boy lately that Tobi gets a dinosaur!"

Deidara and Sasori filled the seat in front of him. The blond grinned deviously and Kakuzu wondered if he had a death wish. "Sooo, I heard about what happened, yeah." He glanced over to the other side of the table and it seemed that Konan, Pein, and Itachi were busy discussing something. Kisame wouldn't be able to hear anything with how grotesquely loud he was eating his apple. Every bite sounded like bones breaking.

"Considering your gossiping really triggered this…"

The artist gasped, insulted, "Hey! No it didn't, yeah! They woulda found out at some point. Especially when you're seen walking around with Mr. Eye Candy."

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "I'm not planning on doing anything with Hidan." Yes, he's gay but that doesn't equate to him fucking the first guy that didn't rub him the wrong way (perhaps a bad choice of words).

"But you were totally about to throw down for him, yeah!" Deidara squealed.

"That wasn't for him-"

"Tobi thinks that's really romantic!" the masked boy interrupted. He dipped his celery stick into weird looking peanut butter, prepping it for the raisins. Tobi was pulled out of the conversation by Zetsu who leaned over his shoulder, voicing Kakuzu's question of "_what the fuck is wrong with those peanuts?" _They were apparently "natural" and crunchy. Kakuzu thought he would be off the hook since Deidara also appeared revolted by the healthy snack.

However Sasori ignored them, "I also believe you have an interest in him, since you have never put any focus on another human being in the past."

He groaned and placed his covered face between his hands. "I'm curious about him. That does not mean I am interested."

"Yesh, it doesh!" Deidara chirped with an ant's on a log between his teeth, "Damn, these aren't half bad, yeah…"

"Kakuzu should invite Hidan to the lunch table and hand feed him pizza rolls!" Tobi said with his hands clasped. The one socket of his mask revealed his squinted eye, implying a colossal smile.

"He doesn't have this lunch." Kakuzu stated, practically saying _stop, just shut up and stop._

"Have you checked?" the short redhead inquired

"No, but I think I would have noticed."

The explosives engineer paused in remembrance before refuting, "Hidan has this lunch, I remember seeing him around here the first week he moved here."

"He probably had a schedule change by now." Sasori responded.

"Eh, probably." he shrugged, "But that shouldn't stop Kakuzu!"

"Yeah!" Tobi chipped in. Zetsu chewed on his Tupperware that was once filled with peanut butter.

"What? I wasn't planning on building a relationship in the first place."

"You've already gone through all this trouble," Sasori began but Deidara quickly inserted excitedly:

"And you can rub it in to Pein's face!"

"That too. You might as well befriend Hidan simply to introduce him to Pein. I believe I'm not the only one who would like to know what would happen."

Kakuzu sighed. Despite how irritating his friends were, they had a point. A _very_ worthy point. Out of their group, only Tobi disliked Pein more than Kakuzu, but everyone could agree that Pein placed himself a little too high on a pedestal. "I've tried to speak to him but he isn't affable unless it's necessary."

Deidara snorted, "Unless you're blind, 'cause he's plenty effable, yeah." He squawked when a sharp pain from Sasori's elbow hit him in the ribs. "I was kidding! I didn't mean you're not—"

The disgruntled teen blocked the bickering couple out. However Tobi was still sitting beside him with two thumbs up.

"Love will guide you through!"

* * *

**A/N: **LOOK! IT HASN'T BEEN OVER A MONTH! VICTORY! WOOOT! So this chapter... not much Hidan but a bunch of everyone else! They may be OOC because I've only read the manga chapters and episodes of the Shippuden with Kakuzu and Hidan. I added a lot of unplanned things... like I literally don't even know why I added so much shit. Hidan wasn't supposed to be antisocial... Pein and Kakuzu weren't supposed to have so much animosity. Kakuzu's past wasn't supposed to be a big deal either. Ugh, oh well, shit happens. It's also because I needed enough words to hit three thousand words. I _needed_ three thousand.

I don't know how many kids are in a small school... I thought I went to a middle sized one and we have like two thousand, but apparently, the average is like less than a thousand outside of Florida. Weird.

I'm only replying to guests because I can't reply through a PM!

Jellyfisher2:

Thank goodness! I absolutely love it when people think I interpreted a character correctly! I hope you liked this chapter as well.

NerfBall:

I like friendship fics between them too... especially if it ends with something that involves a lot more touching.


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